Welcome to Hawk’s Illustrated America, a monthly series following illustrator Hawk Krall’s journeys through the back roads of the U.S. in search of our country’s most obscure and delicious regional specialties.

Welcome to Hawk’s Illustrated America, a monthly series following illustrator Hawk Krall’s journeys through the back roads of the U.S. in search of our country’s most obscure and delicious regional specialties.

To me, the magical thing about autumn is that right as the temperature drops and the sky turns uninviting and gray, fall's bountiful crops rush in with their soothingly hearty textures and rich flavors to warm us up.

Take the sweet potato: A warm blast in the oven renders this root veggie supple and sweet—the perfect comfort food to spoon up after coming in from the bracing cold.

I ate sweet potatoes in one of two ways as a kid: mashed or casseroled (in other words, mashed and then capped with toasted marshmallows). College brought a few innovations: crisp and addictive sweet potatoes fries, sweet potato pancakes topped with cinnamon, and cubed sweet potato softened in brothy soups.

And in more recent years, I have actively sought recipes to expand the repertoire—I'm particularly partial to the simple but elegant dish of oven-baked sweet potatoes topped with butter, brown sugar and freshly ground black pepper. I have also begun to learn my way around different varieties, discovering the subtle differences between milder, purple-skinned varieties and the creamy-fleshed standard Beauregard.

Whatever varieties you like, and however you prepare them, now is the time to take full advantage of the sweet potato's full range.

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